Adjusting device for headwear



Feb. 26, 1935. A. l. BLUM ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR HEADWEAR Filed June 15, 1934 INVEN'II'OR Abra/10m]. B/um.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 26, 1935 UNITEDTISTATES PAT NTS-OFFICE This invention relates broadly to adjusting means for hats and other headwear whereby the head sizes of such headwear. may be adjusted within a limited range of, say, at least three sizes.

It has heretofore been proposed to incorporate into headwear, adjusting devices for this purpose but such adjusting devices have been an integral part of the hat construction and were built thereinto during the manufacture of ,the headwear.

The present invention has for its'object an adjustable attachment as an article of manufacture which may be manufactured separately and readily fitted to the interior of the hator other headwear. 1

Another object of the-invention is the provision of such an article of manufacture which can be manufactured to fit, say, the largest size hat and readily reduce in size to fit materially smaller headwear, but in every event, after its attachment to the hat, to enable the size thereof to be adjusted'within limits. i v

The invention also seeks an article of manufactureof the character described which when incorporated'in the headwear, shall be capable of local yielding to adapt itself to surface irregular.- ities on the head of the wearer and thereby provide not only an accurate but at the same time a comfortable fit of thehat to the'head of the wearer. 1 c. i

Itis yet another object of the invention to provide an article of manufacture of the character described which is practical from the standpoint of ease and cheapness of manufacture and convenience and practicability in installation and use.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, illustrating. one embodiment by which the invention may be realized, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through one side of the crown and brim of a hat to which the present invention is applied;

Figure 2 is a view, in perspective, showing the adjusting attachment of this invention; and

Figure 3 is a plan view showing the interior of a hat to which the present invention is applied.

While the invention has been illustrated as applied to a hat, such as a straw hat, it will be obvious that it is equally applicable to every situation Where any type of headwear is to be adjusted in size, within limits.

Generally,.the' article, of manufacture forming I I the subject matter ,of this invention comprises a tubular member bent into substantially annular form and through which. a draw string passes, the ends of the draw string. being preferably provided with fastening means. slidable thereon whereby the perimeter of the loop defined by the fastening means may be adjusted to the desired-length; r v

-In the; illustrated embodiment, an elongated strip of fabric, forinstancanis folded along the longitudinal medianfline thereof so. that its remote longer edges are juxtaposed and secured together, preferably, by the row of stitching 7.

The stitching is fastened atthe respective ends of the tube 5, although, if desired, additional stitching 9 may be provided holding the two ends 'of the tube together proximate the free side edges thereof as. illustrated in Figure 2. The stitching 7 is preferably a. lock stitch so thateither or both ends of the tube maybe cut off to the extent desired in order toreduce the over-all lengthor perimeter of the tubular portion whereby this universally applicable adjusting device may be manufactured in one single standard size of a length sufficienttofit the largest hat manufactured and then it may be cut down to fit, say, the smaller headsizesc Since, therefore, this adjusting device may be utilized to adjust the size of a hat between, say, three head sizes, only 'one size adjusting device is required and .only one-third of; ther number of hats need be c r d nstoch 1 Through the tubular portion 5 is passed a tape, cord or other inelastic tension member 11, the free ends 12 and 13 of which may be secured together as by any convenient form of clamp 14 or may be left free in order that the ends may be tied together when the size of the hat is adjusted.

Preferably, however, an adjusting device in the form of the adjustable clamp 16' may be provided.

These adjusting, devices, as illustrated in Figure 2, may be sold to the manufacturer or retail headwear merchant for installation in hats, caps and other headwear.

A simple and convenient form of installing the adjusting device is illustrated in Figure 1. The sweat band 16 is secured at its lower edge to a fold 17 formed intermediate the draw string 11 and the aforesaid row of stitching '7. This may conveniently be accomplished by a row of stitching 18 passing through the lower edge of the sweat band and both sides or four thicknesses of the tubular member 5. The combined sweat band and adjusting devicemay then be secured to the hat to, say, the wallof the crown thereof proximate the brim 20, as by a row of stitching 22, again passing through the folded adjusting device as between the line of stitching 18 and the line of stitching 7 and through the wall of the crown of the hat.

It will thus be seen that an adjusting device maybe provided for hats and other headwear without requiring any changes whatever in the present methods of manufacture of hats. These adjusting devices may be inserted when the sweat band is inserted or may be inserted subsequent thereto and between the sweatband and the wall of the crown, as will be understood. When the draw string is contracted, thetubular mem. ber is drawn inwardly into a substantially transverse plane so that the sweat band ismoved inwardly and spaced from the wall of the hat crown and-dependent upon the effective perimeter of the draw string, a positive variation in the diameter of the'sweat band is afforded whereby. the hat may be properly adjusted to accurately fit heads of different sizes.

Various modifications will occur to those skille in the art in the composition,- configuration and disposition of the component elements going to make up the invention as a whole as well as the method of attaching the adjusting device to headwear, and nolimitation is intended by the phraseology of the foregoing specification except as indicated in the appended-claims.

What is claimedis:

1." The combination of a hat having a crown, of an adjustable attachment therefor comprising an annular member of tubular cross section formed of an elongated strip of fabric folded along the longitudinal median line thereof, stitching securing the free side edges together, a draw string passing through said member, said member being folded along a longitudinal line intermediate the row of stitching andthe draw string, a sweat band proximate the tubular portion containing the draw string, a row of stitching securing an edge of the sweat band to the folded member remote from the draw string and a "row of stitches passing through the tubular member edges, a draw string passing through the tubular portion of said member, a sweat band proximate the said tubular portion containing the draw string, a row of stitches passing through only the sweat band and said folded member and a row of stiches connecting only the annular member and the hat, said last named stitches being in spaced relation to the first named stitches.

3. The combination with a hat of an adjust- V able attachment therefor comprising an annular member of tubular cross section formed of an elongated strip of flexible material folded longitudinally thereof intermediate its longitudinal edges, a row of stitches securing only the folded sides of the said strip together, a draw string passing. through the tubular portion of said ,member, a sweat band proximate the said tubular portion containing the draw string, a row of stitches passing through only the said sweat band and said folded member to secure the sweat band thereto and a row of stitches connecting only the annular member and the hat, said last named stitchesbeing in spaced relation to each of the aforenamed rows of stitches.

4. The combination of a hat having a crown, of an adjustable attachment therefor comprising an annular member of tubular cross section formed of an elongated strip of fabric folded along a longitudinal line thereof, a draw string passing through said member, said member being folded along a longitudinal line remote from the draw string, a sweat band proximate the tubular portion containing the draw string, a row of stitching securing an edgeof the sweat band to the folded member remote from the draw string and a row' of stitches passing through the tubular member and the Wall of the crown.

5. The combination with a hat of an adjustable attachment therefor comprising an annular member of tubular cross section formed of an elongated strip of flexible sheet material folded longitudinally thereof, a draw string comprising an inelastic tension member passing through the tubular portion of said member, a clamp member for securing the free ends of the said draw string, a sweat band, a row of stitches passing through only the sweat band and said folded member and a row of stitches connecting only the annular member and thehat, said last named stitches being in spaced relation to the first named stitches. V

ABRAHAM I. BLUM. 

